9 October 2018

Following a short trial early this year, Whanganui District Health Board (WDHB) is pleased to announce that unlimited free public WiFi is now available at Whanganui Hospital to allow patients and visitors to connect their mobile devices to the internet during their time on the hospital campus.

Thanks to the generosity of internet service provider InspireNet, the service has expanded to provide increased data limit from one gigabyte (1GB) free per month to unlimited data.

InspireNet founder James Watts says understandably, patients will want to browse online and watch video if they’re at the hospital for a period of time. “But one gigabyte is only about 3.5 hours of YouTube, so working with Whanganui DHB we decided to make it unlimited free WiFi at the hospital - part of our sponsorship to contribute to the wellbeing of the region.”

The unlimited free WiFi network called ‘WDHB_FreeWiFi_by_InspireNet’ will be available throughout patient areas of Whanganui Hospital.

Whanganui DHB’s chief information officer Barry Morris says providing reliable and fast WiFi at the hospital offers more than just convenience.

“There’s no doubt the unlimited free WiFi will be of great value for our patients,” Mr Morris says. “It enables patients with devices to be able to continue normal activities such as paying household expenses and accessing information which in turn, can help make their visit or stay in hospital less stressful, and less stress can only help with a faster recovery.”

“And, they’ll also be able to stay connected with their whānau, friends and colleagues, or browse the internet and watch online content without needing to be conscious of how much internet data they’re using.

“In partnership with InspireNet, we’re delighted to be able to offer unlimited free WiFi to patients and other visitors to Whanganui Hospital.”

How to access the free WiFi at Whanganui Hospital:

1. From your mobile device’s home screen, navigate to the WiFi options via Settings

2. Ensure the WiFi ‘switch’ is turned on

3. From the available networks, choose ‘WDHB_FreeWiFi_by_InspireNet’

4. Once connected, you should receive the ‘landing page’ (portal.wdhb.inspire.net.nz)

5. Click on the ‘Accept’ button.

You should now be connected to the WiFi service and be able to access the internet using your browser or application of choice (Internet Explorer, Google Chrome, Firefox or any other internet app.)

For any WiFi issues, please phone the Inspire Net Helpdesk directly on 0800 484 363.